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Hundreds of Afghans Protest Karzais Taleban Offer

Monday, May 12, 2003
The Tehran Times

Sundays protesters echoed complaints already leveled against Karzai by some members of the Northern Alliance, the dominant faction in his government, Reuters reported. "The Taleban were and still are the enemies of Afghanistan," said one young protester. "Karzais decision calls into question his role as president."

KABUL, Afghanistan -- TT
Several hundred Afghans staged a demonstration in Kabul on Sunday against President Hamid Karzais offer of amnesty to some members of the ousted Taleban regime.

The protesters called the offer, made during a meeting with the clergy last month, a "national betrayal".

Karzai said at the time it was aimed at uniting Afghanistan after 23 years of conflict and extended "only to those Taleban members whose hands are not stained with Afghans blood". Those covered include a former foreign minister, Mullah Mohammad Ghau.

Many of the protesters were residents of the Shomali Plain area to the north of Kabul, scene of bitter battles until 2001 between the then-ruling Taleban and the Northern Alliance.

Apart from suffering destruction in the fighting, the Taleban deliberately destroyed houses and land on the plain to punish its population for backing the Northern Alliance, which took power in late 2001 with the help of massive U.S. air strikes.
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2003 © The Tehran Times.

Dan